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Sector: Hospitality

Franchise marketing for hospitality

Marketing for hospitality franchise brands: locally visible at every location, managed centrally from head office.

By Gijs Bodenstaff · Updated:

Franchise marketing for hospitality makes sure hungry searchers choose your venue. Hospitality guests decide quickly, often on the go and on their phones. We make sure every location of your franchise brand is at the top of Google Maps, with correct opening hours, menu, photos and reviews. The NFV counts 157 hospitality franchise brands with 4,228 locations.

157franchise brands
4,228locations
113,200people employed
€5.2bnrevenue excl. VAT

Bron: NFV 2025

How big is franchising in hospitality?

According to the franchise statistics of the Dutch Franchise Association (NFV) (reference year 2025), hospitality has 157 franchise brands with a combined 4,228 locations. That is 12.1% of all franchise locations in the Netherlands, with an average of around 27 locations per franchise brand. Think of restaurants, lunchrooms, pizzerias, snack bars and coffee bars. Every location is a local marketing channel in its own right: a profile, reviews, a page and local customers.

Franchising in hospitality in figures (NFV, reference year 2025)
CharacteristicHospitalityEntire franchise sector
Franchise brands157936
Locations4,22834,937
People employed113,200438,800
Revenue (excl. VAT)€5.2bn€50.5bn
Average number of locations per franchise brand2737

How does a hospitality customer search for a location?

A hospitality decision sometimes takes only a few minutes. Someone searches for "lunch near me" or "pizza delivery" and chooses from the first three results in Maps. Photos, review score, opening hours and whether you can book or order are decisive. Increasingly, guests put the question to an AI assistant: "where can we eat with children in Utrecht?" Then the information about your venue must be complete and consistent.

On top of that there are group bookings, catering and delivery. Each of these requires its own information in the profile and on the location page.

What marketing challenges do hospitality brands face?

These are the problems we come across most often at franchise brands in this sector. They can be solved, but they require time and specialist knowledge that a head office marketing team rarely has.

Challenges for hospitality franchise brands
ChallengeConsequence if you do nothing
Opening hours and kitchen times changeGuests arrive to find the kitchen closed
Many reviews about service and waiting timesUnanswered complaints damage the franchise brand
Menu and prices not up to date onlineThe wrong expectations
Dependence on delivery platformsYour own channel remains underused

Which channels work best for hospitality franchise brands?

The order below is our starting point for this sector. In the scan, we test it against the figures for your locations.

Channels and priorities for hospitality
ChannelPriorityUse per location
Google Business Profile with menu and bookingVery highPhotos, menu, booking and order button
Review managementVery highReply within 24 hours, including at weekends
Instagram and TikTokHighDishes, atmosphere, team
Local Google AdsMediumOpenings, holidays, catering
EmailMediumHoliday bookings, loyalty

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How do we approach local visibility in hospitality?

In hospitality, guests often decide within a few minutes, based on what they see in Maps: photos, score, opening hours and whether there is a table available now. That makes hospitality the most visual channel in Maps. We ensure a steady stream of photos per location, an up-to-date menu in the profile and the right attributes (terrace, child-friendly, vegetarian options, groups). We reply to reviews within 24 hours, seven days a week, because in hospitality most reviews come in at the weekend.

For delivery and collection, we make sure the button in the profile points to your own ordering system if you have one, so you are less dependent on platforms.

Which figures do we measure for a hospitality franchise brand?

Alongside the standard KPIs in the monthly report, in this sector we also look at the following figures, per location and for the franchise brand.

Key KPIs for hospitality
KPIWhy it matters
Clicks on book, order and callDirect revenue signals
Photo views per locationVisual appeal
Review score and response time at weekendsReputation and service
Position in Maps for 'restaurant' or 'lunch'Local visibility
What outsourcing delivers
BenefitExplanation
All locations equally well set upOne standard for profiles, pages and reviews
Time back for your teamWe handle the local execution
Comparable figuresStrong and weak locations become visible

For which hospitality sectors do we have an approach?

Within hospitality, we work out the approach per sector, with its own search behaviour, problems, rules and KPIs. Choose your sector:

What does franchise marketing deliver per hospitality location?

The NFV figures make a simple worked example possible. On average, a hospitality location generates around €1.23 million in revenue a year. The Growth package costs €3,000 per location per year. The break-even point is therefore at revenue growth of a fraction of one per cent. Whether that is achievable is shown by the scan of three locations.

Our permanent team carries out the work: Gijs Bodenstaff as your point of contact, Angela for analysis and content, Elisabeth for local Google Ads, Peter for local authority and ten trained freelancers for profiles and reviews per location. Read more about Franchise-Marketing.nl.

More about franchise marketing for hospitality

The foundation for every hospitality franchise brand is local search engine optimisation per location, supplemented by review management for franchise brands. After that come Google Ads management for chains or social media for franchise brands, depending on your customer journey. Also compare the approach in other sectors: marketing for supermarket and food brands and marketing for service franchise brands. You will find all sectors listed under franchise sectors, and the prices per location under pricing per location.

Frequently asked questions about marketing in hospitality

Do you also reply to reviews at weekends?
Yes. We are active seven days a week from 08:00 to 19:00, and in hospitality in particular, responding quickly at weekends is important.
How often should new photos be added to the profile?
Preferably every month. Franchisees send a few photos via WhatsApp; we select and post them.
Can the booking button link to our own system?
Yes, if your booking system offers a direct link or integration. That saves commission and gives you your own data.
Does social media really help in hospitality?
Yes, especially short videos of dishes and atmosphere. We create central content with local variations for each location.
From how many locations do you help a hospitality franchise brand?
Central management works best from around ten locations. We help smaller franchise brands with a one-off setup and training.
How many franchise brands and locations are there in Dutch hospitality?
According to the NFV franchise statistics (reference year 2025), hospitality has 157 franchise brands with 4,228 locations in total. That is 12.1% of all franchise locations in the Netherlands, with an average of about 27 locations per brand. Together they turn over €5.2 billion excluding VAT and employ 113,200 people.
Which attributes matter in a restaurant's Business Profile?
Attributes that help guests choose, such as terrace, child-friendly, vegetarian options and suitable for groups. Hospitality is the most visual category in Google Maps, so alongside attributes we ensure a steady flow of photos and an up-to-date menu for each location. AI assistants use that data for questions such as where you can eat with children.
How does a hospitality brand stop guests arriving to find the kitchen closed?
By keeping opening hours and kitchen hours up to date for each location in the Google Business Profile, including holidays and exceptional days. Changing hours are one of the biggest bottlenecks in hospitality. A wrong time leads to disappointed guests and often to a negative review that affects the whole brand.
How does a hospitality brand become less dependent on delivery platforms?
By pointing the order and delivery button in every Google Business Profile to your own ordering system, if you have one. That way your own channel is not underused and less revenue goes to platform commission. Email to existing guests, for example for reservations and loyalty, strengthens that own channel further.
Which KPIs do you track per hospitality location?
Besides the standard KPIs, we look at clicks on reserve, order and call as direct revenue signals, photo views per location, the review score and weekend response time, and position in Maps for keywords such as restaurant or lunch. That makes strong and weak locations within the hospitality brand visible.

Sources

Portrait of Gijs Bodenstaff

Gijs Bodenstaff
Franchise marketer, local SEO and GEO specialist, author

Opening a hospitality location yourself? Read starting a hospitality franchise.

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